More livestock entries but dairy section hit by clash

Brian Crosby was there, however, with a prize-winning team from his

wife Pat's Jersey herd at Knayton, near Thirsk.

Mr Crosby who normally runs a hardware shop, Hutchinsons of Easingwold, scored Best Jersey and Reserve Dairy Champion.

In the pigs section, Andrew and Fiona Warriner, of Crayke, near Easingwold, were picking up a prize for a pair of Welsh gilts, born in February. The pairs competitions tend to go unappreciated by the general public but in meat production, consistency is everything. "They should look like peas from a pod," said up Mr Warriner.

Best fleece was won with a clip from Wensleydale specialist Yvonne Mudd of Brompton, near Scarborough.

The judge, Christopher Rowan, tested the wool for strength and overall consistency and admired its light gold sheen. Mr Rowan, 50, has worked 33 years for North of England Wools, in Bradford, who grade and bundle for wool board auctions. Each eight-tonne lot is core-sampled and lab-tested for a quality assurance certificate. But at the beginning of that industrialised process, each fleece is assessed like it is at the Ryedale Show – by eye and by feel..